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A debate over damage to Iran's nuke program, impeachment vote fails, Alvin Bragg wins Dem primary, Bernie Sanders has no answer for human meaning under socialism, and more.

AT A GLANCE • Global leaders are working to create one big, global green religion, leading to the destruction of Judeo-Christianity. • The new world religion would raise Mother Earth to the level of a deity. • This movement claims all religions are equal, though some will be more equal than others. • It would jettison …

This one had me stumped. These days it’s getting harder and harder to tell the real country songs from the parodies. And I’m not just talking about the AI songs that are clearly making fun of country music: I’m talking artists who put out country songs that are so bad it’s hard to tell whether they think it’s actually good or not. Obviously one of the first songs that comes to mind is Lan Law’s “Country To The Bone,” which went viral on TikTok a few months ago and even landed them a show on Broadway, but was so objectively bad that nobody was really sure whether they were in on the bit or not. Well folks, I found another one to present to you today. I had never heard of Mary Kutter until a few months ago when they started talking about her on a podcast I listen to (shoutout Circling Back). I assumed she was just some new artist who was starting out on TikTok, and didn’t really dig any deeper into her or her catalog. But recently I heard another song from her that has me wondering what in the world is going on. This song is about Red 40 (yes, the food dye). How do I know that? Well, she tells us right at the beginning of the song: “This song is about Red 40” Straightforward and to the point. I appreciate the clarity. And listen, Red 40 is a hot topic right now, especially with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and his “Make America Healthy Again” push to ban artificial additives and food dyes. I’m all for it. So maybe Mary Kutter was just hopping on the trend and wanted to make a socially conscious song about something that’s important to her. Let’s take a look at the lyrics and see how she did: “Mama packed it in my lunchbox Drank it from a juice box, it tasted like cherries Colors sitting on my spoon Commercial called it fruit, it didn’t grow on trees We prayed and blessed our supper But that meal was good and cursed Well fed but 6 feet under Crumb trail behind the hearse Yeah they sell, sell, sell Keep them profits pouring Poison’s flying off the shelves Labels got no warning They tried to sugarcoat it But we’re done buying that story We’re seeing red, seeing red, seeing red Red 40″ @marykutter Things that cost $3.99 gonna cost you good years of your life #red40 #countrymusic ♬ original sound – Mary Kutter I mean, I can’t even lie, that line about blessing your supper “but that meal was good and cursed” is kind of a banger. Now like I said, I support the message behind the song. And there are a lot of songs out there about the health crisis that’s sweeping our country, and especially the drug crisis in Appalachia, though they’re usually a little more subtle with their message. Tyler Childers’ “Nose On The Grindstone” immediately comes to mind. Brad Paisley had a song called “The Medicine Will” a few years ago. Philip Bowen, another artist from West Virginia, had a song called “Vampire in Appalachia” with Josiah and the Bonnevilles. My point here is those songs are generally a little more metaphorical with their message. But not Mary Kutter. Nope. She leaves no room for ambiguity in her song: It’s about Red 40. Well I was a little confused by the song, so I had to do some more research into Ms. Kutter. She’s from central Kentucky, the great-granddaughter of a bootlegger, and as it turns out, she’s actually written a couple of songs for other artists that have had some radio success, including “Never Leave” by Bailey Zimmerman and “Wreckage” by Nate Smith. Her song “Devil’s Money,” which is about her bootlegging family heritage, has over 2 million streams on Spotify, and she’s got over 100k monthly listeners, which may not sound like a lot but is actually a pretty good showing for a new independent artist. A lot of her songs have a pretty overt message about life in Appalachia, like “The Devil Wore A Lab Coat,” which is obviously about the prescription drug crisis in states like West Virginia and Kentucky. She’s got a pretty good voice, and while her songwriting might be a little rough around the edges, it clearly resonates with an audience who can likely relate to the problems she’s singing about. I assume that Mary Kutter is trying to build a niche in her corner of Appalachia, making music and singing about the problems that states like hers are facing and telling her family stories. And hey, it seems to be working. Either that, or she’s one heck of a troll.The post I Heard A New Country Song About Red 40 & Couldn’t Tell Whether It Was A Parody Or Not first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

If you ever see a plane flying high above you in the sky, there’s an outside chance that Dierks Bentley is piloting that very aircraft. The country music star joined the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast to talk about his new album Broken Branches, some of his favorite songs on the track list, the Hot Country Knights and adding humor to his music, being friends with Cross Canadian Ragweed frontman Cody Canada, being a dad, hangover cures, sports and more. We also got to talk to Bentley about a passion of his that he has outside of country music: Being a pilot. It was a topic that the country music star was happy to talk about, and he revealed to us that his flying hobby that was first picked up just for fun now serves a very important purpose in the present day: “I fly a bunch. I started flying when I moved to Nashville and just wanted to get my pilot’s license. It took three years to get it just because of the time and money. Then once I got it, I didn’t really have a good reason to use it. So I gave it up for about 14 years, until (my daughter) Evalyn was born and I was trying to cut the corners off travel. Long story short, I got way back into it and I’ve been going hard ever since. And I just have a great relationship with Cessna for the last 10 years. I don’t own the plane that I fly, but I get to fly it a lot… I’m probably the only guy in town that’s flying his own band to and from shows. I usually fly to (the shows) and then my buddy Bucks flies it back because I’ve had a few drinks at that point. The FAA would frown upon that.” Yeah… don’t want to get “Drunk On A Plane.” Dierks went on to say that when he’s flying his guys to and from the shows, he’s typically piloting CJ-4 aircraft, which can travel over 400 knots, cruises at 45,000 feet (10,000 higher than commercial airlines) and can hold up to 8 people. He also pointed out that, thanks to his great relationship with Cessna, it’s cheaper for him to pilot the plane for his band than to hire someone else or for them all to fly commercial. And with how he talks about it, the band flying together sounds like a collectively awesome time no matter how you look at it: “It’s unbelievable. I’ll head out to the airport. All the guys in the band meet me there. Bucks has usually pre-flighted the plane – walked around it and checked it all out. I’ll get in, go to the front and sit left seat. We’ve already talked about the flight before I’ve gotten there. Then I fire it up. The guys are in the back usually playing cards, lot of laughter back there. It makes for better shows. I really believe that. Because they spend more time with their family. It’s hard being away from your kids. It’s hard being away from your wife. To be able to get that extra night at home… it just cuts the corners on travel. When you’re on the road, you’re just stoked to be there.” @whiskeyriff Did you know @dierksbentley has his pilot’s license? // Listen to the full podcast available on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube now. #whiskeyriff #whiskeyriffraff #dierksbentley #pilot #countrymusic ♬ original sound – Whiskey Riff As Bentley talks about being a pilot, you can tell he’s passionate about being high up in the sky. He even boasted that the CR-4 jet that he flies has the highest thrust to weight ratio than any business jet (translation: it’s got some juice). That being said, Dierks knows that he has to take his piloting very seriously, and told us that he goes down to Florida once a year for intensive training that prepares him to handle anything that might go wrong in the cockpit. And we couldn’t help but ask if he ever gets recognized through air traffic communication. As we imagined, those working comms often figure out that they are talking to a country-music-star-pilot, and there’s even a running joke when Dierks flies that ties in a classic song of his: “Oh yeah. Absolutely have. You have a squawk code. Every plane has a code that air traffic control uses to separate planes. Sometimes I’ll be up there and they’ll call the tail sign and say, ‘Change your squawk code to 5150.’ And that’s how I know that they know I’m on the flight plan or something. I own a caravan, which is a propeller plane. I fly that around a bunch and I usually get the squawk code 5150 for that.” For those that need a refresher, that squawk code happens to coincide with his hit song “5-1-5-0” that was included in his 2012 album Home. If there are any Flight Tracker nuts out there, that means to keep an eye out for an aircraft flying under the 5150 squawk code… the “most interesting man in country music” is likely piloting that plane. You can hear more from Dierks Bentley in the latest episode of Whiskey Riff Raff. Download the podcast on Apple Podcasts by searching “Whiskey Riff Raff” or click here. We’re also available on Spotify and wherever else you can listen to podcasts. Cheers, y’all. Audio Video The post Dierks Bentley Personally Flies His Band To Their Gigs So They Can Spend More Time With Their Families first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Paul Cauthen feels good about where he is in his fight with thyroid cancer. Back in February, the country music singer announce that he was taking a break from touring through social media, and that the Black On Black Tour dates would be canceled “for the foreseeable future.” He had been touring in 2025 since January, supporting his fourth studio album (Black on Black) that released in October of last year. The Texas artist, who is considered a modern day country outlaw thanks to his outspokenness about the current state of country music, decided to put himself and his health first. He later revealed in a lengthy post that he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and followed that announcement up with another message sharing he was taking a holistic route in lieu of regular cancer treatment: “I will not be bridled. I will not be told what to do. I have built this with my own blood, sweat, and tears. I am shrinking this cancer by the day. I have had to go my separate ways with a lot of folks because they cannot get behind my personal HOLISTIC approach to beating cancer. I am ready to be back on the road. I am in the best shape of my life. To all you promoters and venues that put in the effort in these past shows, I had to cancel. You’re the first up! I owe you, and I’ll be there. I promise. We will be back. I am sick and tired of all the people telling me how and what I should do with MY body. I’ve never experienced it more until this cancer announcement. Everybody is different! Everybody has their own right. I am behind anybody’s approach with their own will. I stand behind anybody with cancer! I will beat cancer. That’s final. God is good. Remember, don’t let too many spoons in your chili! I have just begun.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Paul Cauthen (@paulcauthen) After that update in March, we hadn’t heard much from Big Velvet in the last couple of months. That is until Paul Cauthen recently joined the Ten Year Town podcast, and shared this promising news about his fight against thyroid cancer when he was asked about how his life was going: “Whooping cancer’s a**.” Hell yeah. That’s the kind of health update I love to see. Cauthen went on to elaborate, and detailed the supplements and alternative forms of medicine that he’s been leaning on to battle the cancer in his body: “It’s going great. I’ve been taking a bunch of supplements and taking ivermectin, fenbendazole, methylene blue… all these things that not a lot of people talk about. Instead of doing the general way of just having your whole endocrine system ripped out of your throat, I went a different way.” The “Last of My Kind” singer later added that because he’s chosen to go a different direction with his cancer treatment – opposing the thought of chemotherapy or surgical removal – some in his close circle have looked at him differently. The way he talked about it in the interview made it seem as though that part of his cancer journey was almost as challenging as fighting the cancer itself: “A lot of people have shunned me for it. A lot of people have gotten a lot of flack. I’ve stopped working with people because of the situation. It’s been weird, you know? When you want to actually make a call for your own body, people want to make calls for your body for you. That was the first time I’ve ever had that feeling. Guess getting cancer is one of those things that kind of opened up who the real people are in your life that are in it for you and your health and your journey back to your most wanted health.” You hate to hear that… but it does seem as though Paul’s got a very positive outlook on the matter. Cauthen continued by disclosing why he chose to take the alternative – and arguably harder – route, and pointing out why he feels he’ll come out on the other side better because of it: “Everybody can tell you what they believe, but you’ve got to go find it out for yourself… I took a tougher road in the end. But there’s a chance I could have lost my voice. There’s a chance I could have been unstable with my calcium and I could feel like I have a weighted blanket on me every day and be fatigued… There’s so many things that can happen when you pull this organ out of your body that it takes you years to get stabilized on supplements and you’re married to supplements the rest of your life. So I’m taking a crap load of supplements now, and I’ve lost 25 pounds. I believe that, in the end, I can say that cancer really saved my life.” What an unbelievably positive mindset to have in such a challenging time. We’re all rooting for you Big Velvet, and happy to hear that things seem to be on the right track. You can hear more from Paul Cauthen on his health and everything else currently going on in his life in the interview below: The post Paul Cauthen Gives Cancer Update, Details The Alternative Medicine Route He’s Taking: “Whooping Cancer’s A**” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.